Home Grown Preschool

I have four girls ranging from 1 to 5 and a 2 year old nephew that live with me right now.  I decided to start a private little preschool this week.  The first couple of days I was going at it alone.  But I recently discovered this little gem:


Go check out this awesome blog!  We are doing an alphabet theme in our house, so this is perfect.  She has a ton of ideas for each letter of the alphabet.  Plus, she has FREE PRINTABLES for a lot of it!

Uh Oh!

I think my new love was just created!  I MUST get me one of  THESE!  Wish I'd had one for Cassy's birthday! Hope I have on for Charly's birthday!  Nate is going to flip when he hears about my new wish list!

Go check it out!  You will be wishing for one, too!

It isn't in stores yet.  It comes out on April 14th, but I SO wish I had the money to fork out for one!  Maybe I'll win one from the DIY Dish!  Oh please, oh please, oh PLEASE!

Helping the Easter Bunny

Here's the story:

I got a call from the Easter Bunny today and he said he was having trouble filling Daddy's Easter basket.  So he asked us to help him out.

Here's what Daddy will be getting in his basket from me and the girls:

*That's an egg carton*

*Inside*

And it took less than an hour!

And I got to do it with the kids,

in fact, it was all about the kids!

Wanna make one real quick?

Here's what I used:

Egg carton

Green acrylic paint

Small sponge brush (small worked better to get in the nooks and crannies of the egg carton)

Scrapbook paper

Tulle

Straight edge cutter

Corner rounder

Ink pads

Scrapbook letter stickers

Krylon crystal clear glaze (You could probably skip this one)

Regular printer paper

Colored pencils (or markers, crayons, whatever)

1 dozen plastic Easter eggs

I cut the scrapbook paper to fit the top of the egg carton, then painted  and sprayed the carton.  The spray didn't seem to do much, so you could probably skip it!  While the carton was drying, I put the lettering on the scrapbook paper and tied a bow with some tulle.  You can embellish the top however you like.  I also put numbers on the eggs.  I just thought it was cute!  Then I cut 4" squares out of printer paper and wrote on each one why each child loves Daddy.  I have four kids, so they each did three eggs.  The more original, the more it will mean to whomever you give it to.  Here is an example of one that I did from my one year old:

*And I just realized that I left out the "do" in that sentence!*

It should read:  ...you teach me to DO big kid things that Mommy is afraid to let me try.

Obviously my one year old isn't exactly coloring savvy yet, so I stamped her foot on this one, her and on another, and the last one has her little finger prints all over it!  Turned out so cute!

And what did the kids do in-between coloring time?

This has to be the best seasonal babysitter yet!

They were entertained for hours!

Disclaimer:

Sorry about the little streakers!

The two year old refuses to leave her clothes on,

And the baby snuck away from me before I could get some clean clothes on her.

So do you think he'll like it?

The best part is, it doesn't have to be for daddy.

You can make it for grandparents, friends, anyone!

Baby Girl Turns One!

This is my sweet baby girl, Cassidy.

She turned one on Saturday.

Her grandma gave her this cute dress and matching big that said,

"BIRTHDAY GIRL"

I made all the decor, and the bow, to match the dress and bib.

Nothing is upcycled here.

But I can use it in her scrapbook,

so it serves dual purposes.

Like the St. Patrick's Day banner, this one is made with old cereal boxes.

This little "Chandelier" will hang above her crib from now on.

The banner will go on the wall in her room.

I love the idea of decorations that are used more than once!

Making Cupcakes

We used gel food coloring to make different colors.

The batter

The final product!

I love it!

And apparently Cassy did, too!

Her party was a huge hit!

Fun New Discovery

Okay, so what does my  baby turning one have to do with a fun new discovery?  After three other "first birthdays" this is certainly nothing new.  The fun new discovery isn't that she is turning new.  It is that can make adorable pictures into amazing, creative announcements.

How, you ask?

I found, through one of the blogs I follow (can't remember which one.  Sorry!) a great website:

http://www.picnik.com/

Okay, but you can do this with photoshop, right?

The great thing about picnik is:

IT'S FREE!

Go check it out!   It is so much fun!  

Here it is, almost 2 in the morning and I can't drag myself away from the computer!

Here are some more that I made:

This one is for my sis-in-law.

Congrats on your growing family!

Now go check it out and make some for yourself!
I'd love to see what you come up with!

St. Patrick's Day

I didn't get any pictures of the making of, but here is what I made:

 St. Patty's Banner

I used some old cardboard cereal boxes to make the banner a little sturdier.

This little baby is made from all new parts, but it is reusable, so I thought it was worth the splurge.

What I used to make a set (all found at the Home Depot):

1 piece of "seconds" wood, cut off two squares for base

2 mounting plates

2 small table legs (like for coffee tables)

2 wooden knobs

1 can of white spray paint

That's it!  It was so easy...it helped that my awesome hubby was there to hold my hand at Home Depot, listen to my ideas and help me find the supplies...then he pretty much did all the work to put them together.  But it looked pretty easy!  And I was going to do it, but he just went to town and got them done before I knew it!

Anyway, now I have some neat little hangers that I can use for any banner or sign for any season or theme!  And I think the whole project cost less than $10.

Goin' Green

The idea is to save a little green while going green and still getting to craft like crazy!  So, here goes...